Summary

When Sonny returns from the revival, he and the narrator exchange casual pleasantries. Then Sonny asks his brother if he wants to come somewhere with him that night. The narrator senses that he should not say no. Sonny is playing at a club in the Village. He comments that when the woman was singing at the revival, her voice reminded him of what heroin feels like – “warm and cool at the same time” (p. 19). He explains that heroin makes people feel in control.

The narrator, now angry, asks if musicians need that control from heroin to play jazz. Sonny tries to respond with his eyes, with more than words, then says they need it if they think they do. Sonny thinks maybe musicians need heroin to make jazz at all, to keep from shaking to pieces. He thinks its repulsive that a person has to suffer...